The Big Tent Show

Saturday, 19 January

Today is Darrell’s 2nd retireversary.  With all the new and interesting things Sprinty gets himself into, it crept up on us.  Waa Hoo!

Today is also the start of the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation, & RV Show, also referred to as The Big Tent Show.  The show runs every day until Sunday, January 27th.  Some call it is biggest swap meet in the southwest.  The Big Tent is a Big Tent - 70,000 square feet.  Inside are rows and rows of vendors selling RV stuff, providing RV information (campgrounds, work camping opportunities), as well as the kind of stuff you see at any expo (kitchen gadgets, bamboo pillows, cell phone accessories, shirts, hats, etc.).  The show opened at 9am, and we arrived at 10am (we mis-remembered the start time).




Fortunately for us, and as planned, Scenic Road RV Park is about 3/4 mile away from the madness.  Close enough to walk to the Big Tent, far enough away we don’t have to deal to the major traffic, etc.  by the time we got there at 10am, the parking areas were full and traffic was backed up a fair amount.  Thousands of people streaming in.

The area across the street to the east, known as Rice Ranch, was completely full.  Only a week ago, there were but a handful of RVs in the Rice Ranch Area.

Photo of Rice Ranch area:

The town of Quartzsite, which has a normal population of about 3,500 people year round, has over 100,000 people today.  Maybe more.  Verizon cell service is barely usable, even with 4 bars, as the towers are so congested.  AT&T and T-Mobile are only slightly better.  One of the carriers (some think it was AT&T) brought in a portable tower, else it would be worse than it is.  Yesterday, we enjoyed much better data speed in Parker and Lake Havasu City than we have been experiencing in the Quartzsite area since we got back from Indio.

It took us about 2.5 hours to wander the Big Tent.  Around the Big Tent were more vendors, including the food vendors.  We picked a vendor and had a Gyro and curly fries for lunch.


As we walked back to The Scenic Road RV Park, we saw the traffic backup had increased substantially.  We were glad to be staying close enough to walk (so we did not have to fight traffic or find parking), far enough away to be away from the craziness, and that we are physically able to walk the 3/4 mile back and forth without thinking about it.

After a rest spell back at the RV Park, we headed back to OBBerFest.  Steve had saved the spot in the circle for us.  At 5pm, there was a pot luck dinner.  As you might expect, Class A owners with near-residential kitchens can whip up all sorts of dishes.  There was enough food to feed a group 2 or 3 times larger.  Because most of them are in Class A rigs, there were enough tables to make a 150 foot long line tables for all the food.  And the line for close to 300 people to get their food was amazingly organized without any organizing.


Sunset at OOBerFest



Moonrise at OOBerFest:

After dinner, David lit the fires - all six of them and the Notes from Neptune band started playing.  As the evening temperatures got cooler, everyone enjoyed the fires.  As the price of attending OOBerFest was to bring firewood, and as it was the last night, lots and lots of firewood had to be burned.


Link to video snippet of the entertainment:

So to put OOBerFest in perspective, over 100 Class A RVs, valued at $250,000 to $700,000, gathered in the desert with no hookups (no electricity, water, sewer) for 4 or more days just because.  Many of the people we talked with said they rarely boondock.  Lest you worry about them roughing it, their Class As are more like homes on wheels, and are outfitted with nice features like multiple TVs, satellite TV, high speed cellular, leather furniture, granite countertops, etc.  with generators to provide power for all their conveniences.  Hard to frame it as “camping”.   More like glamping.  But everyone was so welcoming, friendly and having a great time.  That is really what matters and why people keep coming back to OOBerFest year after year.  One lady we met last evening had attended four previous OOBerFests.

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